1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved crate assembly that is capable of employing more than two (2) pallets(e.g. four (4) or eight (8) pallets, etc.) for transporting articles of commerce. More specifically, the present invention provides an improved container assembly including an improved crate assembly and method for transporting articles of commerce, such as transformers and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A patentability investigation was conducted and the following U.S. Patents were discovered: U.S. Pat. No. 2,692,064 to Koester; U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,855 to Smith; U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,855 to Weingarten; U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,922 to Rowley; U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,277 to Fourie et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,747 to Decroix et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,338 to Gigsby; U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,334 to Przytulla et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,392 to Schutz.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,692,064 to Koester, teaches a shipping container for the storage and the transportation of articles. The container has a pair of straps such that each end and side section of the container is individually braced.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,855 to Smith, teaches a reinforced container having metal bands secured to the container and the pallet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,855 to Weingarten, teaches a rectangular collapsed double mail carrier having a pair of cable members which limit the outward movement of the end panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,922 to Rowley, teaches a container for shipping glass sheets. The container includes elongated tensions members which increases the glass supporting strength of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,277 to Fourie et al., teaches a pallet having posts secured thereto. Each post is positioned between the ends of a respective wall. The posts are joined to one another by strips of a laminated paper material such as that which is used to form the so-called slip sheet of an unpalletized loaded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,747 to Decroix et al., teaches a transport and storage container. The container is provided with pallet feet so it can be handled by a fork-lift truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,338 to Gigsby, teaches a reinforced corrugated container. U.S. Pat. No. ""338 more particularly teaches a support pad of semi-rigid material for protecting contents of corrugated containers, and a pallet having a plurality of sockets with each socket receiving a vertical cleat attached to the corrugated container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,334 to Przytulla et al., teaches a pallet container for storage and transport of liquid contents. The container includes an inner container of thermoplastic material and a support jacket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,392 to Schutz, teaches a pallet container which may be used for the transport and storage of liquids. The container has an outer jacket made of crisscrossing vertical and horizontal lattice bars. The container contains an inner container. The inner container, along with a support insert storage and the outer jacket, are supported by a steel pallet. The steel pallet contains a storage space for the outer jacket and the support insert in a collapsed state.
None of the foregoing prior art teaches a crate assembly which is capable of shipping articles of commerce and being quickly disassembled in a period of time that is desired by today""s shippers and receivers. Therefore, what is needed and what has been invented is an improved crate assembly that is capable of employing more than two (2) pallets (e.g., four (4) or eight (8) pallets) for transporting articles of commerce. What is further needed and what has been invented is an improved method for transporting articles of commerce, such as transformers and the like.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a container assembly comprising a base; a first support member secured to the base and having a structure defining a first shelf; and a second support member secured to the base and having a structure defining a second shelf. The container assembly also includes a third support member secured to the base and having a structure defining a third shelf and a fourth support member secured to the base and having a structure defining a fourth shelf. A generally centric support member is secured to the base and has a structure defining at least one generally centric shelf. A first brace member (e.g. a first generally V-shaped brace member) is connected to the first support member and a second brace member (e.g. a second generally V-shaped brace member) is connected to the fourth support member. A connector assembly is releasably attached to the first brace member and to the second brace member for placing tension on the first brace member and on the second brace member; and a pallet is supported by the base. The container assembly preferably additionally comprises a third and fourth brace member (e.g. a third and fourth generally V-shaped brace members) respectively secured to the third and fourth brace member, and another or second connector assembly releasably attached to the third and fourth brace members for placing tension on same. Therefore, a preferred embodiment of the invention may be one set of a pair of tension V-shaped brace assemblies and a connector assembly for placing tension on same, or two opposed sets of same; that is a first pair of tension V-shaped brace assemblies and a first connector assembly for placing tension on the first two V-shaped brace assemblies and a second pair of tension V-shaped brace assemblies and a second connector assembly for placing tension on the second two V-shaped brace assemblies. The container assembly additionally preferably comprises at least one intermediate support member secured to the base and having a structure defining at least one intermediate shelf. The pallet supported by the base comprises the pallet disposed on one of the first, second, third and fourth shelves and on one of the at least one generally centric shelf. The pallet supported by the base may also comprise the pallet disposed on the base. The generally centric support member includes the structure defining a first centric shelf, a second centric shelf, a third centric shelf, and a fourth centric shelf.
The immediate foregoing container assembly additionally comprises a first intermediate support member secured to the base between the first support member and the second support member, a second intermediate support member secured to the base between the second support member and the third support member a third intermediate support member secured to the base between the third support member and the fourth support member, and a fourth intermediate support member secured to the base between the fourth support member and the first support member. Each intermediate support member preferably comprises an upper intermediate shelf. The pallet supported by the base in another embodiment of the invention comprises the pallet disposed on the upper intermediate shelf of the intermediate support member and on the first shelf of the first support member and on the generally centric shelf of the generally centric support member. Each intermediate support member also preferably comprises a lower intermediate shelf. In another embodiment of the invention the pallet supported by the base comprises the pallet disposed on the first lower intermediate shelf of the first intermediate support member and on the second lower intermediate shelf of the second intermediate support member. The present invention also provides a crate assembly comprising the container assembly without a pallet.
The present invention further provides a method for transporting transformers comprising the steps of:
a) providing a pallet;
b) providing a crate assembly having a first support member with a first shelf and a first tension brace assembly connected thereto, a second support member with a second tension brace assembly connected thereto, a generally centric support member having a centric shelf and an intermediate support member having an intermediate shelf;
c) positioning a transformer on the pallet;
d) disposing the pallet on the first shelf of the first support member, on the centric shelf of the generally centric support member, and on the intermediate shelf of the intermediate support member;
e) placing tension on the first tension brace assembly and on the second tension brace assembly while simultaneously compressing the pallet of step (d) between the first support member and the intermediate support member to form a container assembly comprising the pallet and the transformer positioned on the pallet; and
f) transporting the container assembly of step (e) to a desired destination.
The present invention also provides a crate assembly comprising a base, a first support member secured to the base and having a structure defining a first shelf; and a second support member secured to the base and having a structure defining a second shelf. A third support member is secured to the base and has a structure defining a third shelf; and a fourth support member is secured to the base and includes a structure defining a fourth shelf. At least one intermediate support member is secured to the base and includes a structure defining at least one intermediate shelf. A first brace assembly is connected to the first support member and a second brace assembly is connected to the second support member. A connector is releasably attached to the first brace assembly and to the second brace assembly for placing tension on the first brace assembly and on the second brace assembly. This embodiment of the invention may also employ another set of first and second brace assemblies and connector for placing tension on same.
Another embodiment of the present invention accomplishes its desired objects by broadly providing a method for transporting transformers comprising the steps of:
a) providing a first pallet and a second pallet;
b) providing a crate assembly having a first corner support member with a first tension brace assembly connected thereto and a second corner support member with a second tension brace assembly connected thereto;
c) positioning a first transformer on the first pallet;
d) disposing the crate assembly on the first pallet;
e) positioning a second transformer on the second pallet;
f) disposing the second pallet of step (e) on the crate assembly of step (d);
g) placing tension on the first tension brace assembly and on the second tension brace assembly while simultaneously compressing the second pallet of step (f) between the first corner support member and the second corner support member to form a container assembly comprising the first pallet, the first transformer positioned on the first pallet, the crate assembly supported by the first pallet, the second pallet supported by the crate assembly, and the second transformer positioned on the second pallet; and
h) transporting the container assembly of the step (g) to a desired destination.
The foregoing method preferably additionally comprises elevating the container assembly of step (g) prior to the transporting step (h). The placing step (g) includes pulling the first tension brace assembly and the second tension brace assembly towards each other. The first tension brace assembly and the second tension brace assembly respectively include a first base plate and a second base plate; and during and/or after the placing step (g), the first base plate and said second base plate are spaced from each other. The method additionally comprises releasing the tension on the first tension brace assembly and on the second tension brace assembly by removing the second pallet from the crate assembly; and bending the first tension brace assembly and the second tension brace assembly respectively away from the first corner support member and from the second corner support member. The method further preferably additionally comprises pivoting the crate assembly off of the first pallet; more specifically, pivoting the crate assembly approximately 90 degrees to remove the crate assembly from the first pallet. The first corner support member and the second corner support member respectively comprise a first upper shelf and a second upper shelf; and the disposing step (f) comprises disposing the second pallet of step (e) on the first upper shelf and on the second upper shelf. The first corner support member and the second corner support member also respectively comprise a first lower shelf and a second lower shelf; and the disposing step (d) comprises disposing the first lower shelf and the second lower shelf on the first pallet. The method also further preferably additionally comprises coupling a connector assembly to the first tension brace assembly and to the second tension brace assembly; and the placing step (g) comprises tightening the connector assembly.
An embodiment of the present invention also accomplishes its desired objects by broadly providing a crate assembly comprising a first support member having a structure defining a first upper shelf; and a second support member having a structure defining a second upper shelf. A third support member is provided with a structure defining a third upper shelf. The crate assembly additionally comprises a fourth support member having a structure defining a fourth upper shelf. A first brace assembly is connected to the first support member and to the second support member, and a second brace assembly is connected to the second support member and to the third support member. A third brace assembly is included for being connected to the third support member and to the fourth support. A first V-shaped brace assembly and a second V-shaped brace assembly is respectively connected to the first support member and to the fourth support member.
The crate assembly further comprises a connecting means, releasably attached to the first V-shaped brace assembly and to the second V-shaped brace assembly, for being mechanically tightened to an extent of not being capable of being manually disconnected after a pallet structure is placed on the first shelf, the second shelf, the third shelf and on the fourth shelf and the connecting means is tightened to compress the pallet structure between the first support member and the second support member, and for being manually disconnected from the first V-shaped brace assembly after the pallet structure is removed from the first shelf, the second shelf, the third shelf and the fourth shelf of the first support member, the second support member, third support member, and the fourth support member, respectively. A container assembly is formed when the crate assembly is supported by a first or lower pallet and when a second or upper pallet is supported by the crate assembly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for transporting transformers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved crate assembly.
These, together with the various ancillary objects and features which will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the following description proceeds, are attained by these novel assemblies and methods, a preferred embodiment thereof shown with reference to the accompanying drawings, by way of example only, wherein: